You give when you want others to believe all is well while you're robbing them blind.

Book Review | Scattered by Nola Lorraine

Maggie O’Loughlin has taken a job as nanny to the Plowhurst family, who are emigrating from England to Nova Scotia. She needs to get to Halifax, because her younger brother and sister were taken there as part of the British Home Children scheme, which brought orphaned children from England to Canada to hopefully give them a better life.

While Jack and Emily are technically orphans, Maggie is old enough to work and care for them. They were shipped away while she was working for another family, and now she wants to find her brother and sister and reunite her family. But her quest is fraught with difficulties, from storm and shipwreck to lies and betrayal … and love.

Maggie is shipwrecked en route to Canada. When she finally makes it to Halifax, circumstances conspire to prevent the family’s reunion as Maggie finds both friends and enemies in unlikely places.

Scattered is an outstanding debut novel.

The characters are compelling, the plot finely woven, and the writing excellent. It’s full of emotion, and is one of those novels I almost wanted to stop reading because poor Maggie just couldn’t get a break. But I also wanted to read it quickly to make sure it was going to have a happy ending, and read slowly to savour the writing. Scattered pulls at the heartstrings both in the initial premise, then in Maggie’s ongoing trials to try and find her brother and sister, especially as circumstances (well, a particular individual) continually conspire to keep them apart.

Scattered is an outstanding debut novel that pulls at the heartstrings. Recommended reading for historical fiction fans. #ChristianFiction #NovaScotia @NolaLorraine1 Share on X

It’s obvious the author has spent a lot of time and effort researching the time and location, but this enhanced the plot and the writing, rather than overwhelming it. I only hope it’s not another seven years until we can read Nola’s next novel.

Recommended for fans of Carrie Turansky, Julie Klaasen, and Dorothy Adamek.

About Nola Lorraine

I’ve always been a creative person

Nola LorraineI wrote my first mystery story in Mr Cuskelly’s class when I was ten. The goodies and baddies were all trying to get their hands on a mysterious package, and there were plenty of thrills and spills. I used the word ‘suddenly’ five times in those 580 words, and Mr Cuskelly circled every one of them. At least I had a killer ending. ‘What was in the package? I guess we’ll never know.’ It’s a wonder Enid Blyton’s Secret Seven didn’t enlist me  right there and then. 

Since that auspicious start, I’ve had more than 150 short pieces published including short stories, poetry, creative nonfiction, magazine articles, devotions, inspirational pieces and academic articles. I’ve also been writing songs since primary school. Most of my publications are under my married name of Nola Passmore.

Find Nola Lorraine online at:

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About Scattered

To lose her family was unthinkable … To find them will take a miracle.

While working in Europe, nineteen-year-old Maggie never dreamed that her family would be ripped apart and scattered across the sea, with her young brother and sister sent to Canada as part of the Home Children Migrant Scheme.

Desperation sends Maggie on a search from England to Canada, with a harrowing shipwreck leaving her stranded on Sable Island. Eventually arriving in Halifax, Maggie is devastated to discover the trail to find her sister and brother has gone cold.

An offer of help from industrialist Thaddeus Tharaday seems like an answer to prayer, but is the wealthy Tharaday her benefactor or nemesis?

With the help of a dashing newspaper reporter, Maggie begins to unravel the web of deceit surrounding her siblings’ disappearance. However, the closer she gets to the truth, the more dangerous her quest becomes.

With lives on the line and the threat of everything she loves being torn away, can Maggie entrust the scattered pieces of her heart to the one who will never leave?

Set in Victorian-era Nova Scotia, Scattered weaves together elements of mystery, adventure, faith, and romance to take readers on a journey of hope and courage that will resonate with their hearts today.

Find Scattered online at:

Amazon | Goodreads | Koorong

Read the introduction to Scattered below:

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